Hi everyone! Is it true that Google uses our WiFi connections to spy on us? If it is then I want to have something that will protect me from it. Is there anything like that? |
Hi Kevin! Yes, Google uses WiFi connections to spy on us. Well, not Google by itself but Google Street View cars which drive the streets. As FCC have earlier reported, it was a software-design decision, and it was absolutely deliberate. The incident has appeared first time in 2010 but it was halted. Now this case is reopened and new details are revealed from time to time. Called Google Wi-Spy, this incident reveals that Google intentionally collects private data of Americans using its Google Street View cars. Still I guess the privacy of any person is extremely important aspect of our life and it does not matter how big or influential Google is - it must respect the privacy of all people in USA and other countries around the world as well. There is no need to crush the whole Google in order to protect your privacy against such intrusion :) You can avoid Google WiFi snooping at home by blocking WiFi connections of Google Street View cars. In such way you will be sure that one of those cars will not steal your personal data when it will pass your house. |
I'm also hearing of systems being installed in large department stores that follow you around using your smart phone and actually know which aisle you are in and what products you are looking at. The system is supposedly able to tell if you remove the product based on movement of the RFID tag. One of the applications that this system is supposed to support is to help generate tailored advertising that will not only bombard you on your computer, but also on your TV using custom advertisments that are stored on your DVR and ran during normal commercial breaks. |